Famous - Party Album

Over the course of two wildly varied and acclaimed EPs, 2019’s England and 2021’s The Valley, shape-shifting London outfit Famous has forged its own inimitable sound. A sound that subverts pop’s Gospels. A barrage of halcyon melodies, despondent electronics jutting against warming acoustics, and scintillating song structure, all this the singular creative vision of Jack Merrett — Famous’ singer, lyricist, core songwriter and only consistent member — that finds convulsively spectacular expression in their forthcoming debut album, Party Album. Coming to prominence as a part of the celebrated South-London Brixton Windmill scene alongside Black Country, New Road and Black Midi, the group quickly drew recognition for its boundary-pushing, post- post-punk sound. Jack Saunders of BBC Radio One crowned Famous “the most original band in the UK right now”, The Line of Best Fit called them “almost unforgivably ambitious”, and Antony Fantano called them “dope”. Dork gave The Valley a resounding 5-star review, declaring it “as singularly independent and entirely of its own world as anything else you’ll listen to”.As Famous worked out the patterns to its music that grew wider and deeper with every song and new line-up, its mystique grew – something Merrett identifies with the musical heroes of his youth, as he explains, laughing but with unfeigned sincerity, “all my life, I have had a certain idea of rock music.”. Adorning himself with mythic, Jim Morrison-esque monikers like “The King of the Dark Time”, drawing from scattered cultural references ranging from BoJack Horseman episodes to the Book of Revelation, and playing rooftop concerts in London to nobody but the twilight sky. It all laid the suspicion that Famous was either constructing or destroying something huge. Ultimately both were true.Mary-Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music: "If you're into Slint, if you like the lean end of hardcore and maybe just a dash of Jim Morrison, you'll love this"